One Thing Stuck In My Mind
by averyfleur
Summary: Law is a doctor who hasn't made a mortal mistake to date. Luffy is a college student-to-be who has to confront an irreparable relationship with his older brother. When the two meet, Luffy is suffering, and Law becomes haunted by his own demons from the past, but it's only through each other that they both start healing from their own wounds. LawLu/LuLaw, modern AU.
1. Delirium

"Law," Shachi says, pointing to the monitor screen above the patient's bed. "He's flatlining."

Law sets his coffee down. A crescendo begins to hitchhike the beeping of the machine as he scans the waveforms on display, now accompanied by various obnoxious warnings flashing all around the numbers. The intern, who was standing closest to the monitor and had literally been caught red-handed in the middle of a procedure (her wrinkled gloves were stained with a mosaic of fresh blood) had frozen stiff, hands hovering protectively over the patient's head.

"What are you thinking?" she asks, eyeing Law cautiously.

The blood pressure and oxygen were dropping at an alarming rate. But the ECG tracing was normal.

 _Pulseless electrical activity?_

The beeping of the monitor is searing into Law's eardrums. He had managed to get the patient stable since admission – well, breathing on mechanical ventilation and completely unconscious — so _what now_?

"Koala," he says definitively, leaping to the other side of the bed, "keep inserting the line – we need to track his haemodynamics."

Koala grimaces. She had been struggling with it and had clearly lost confidence in her manual dexterity. "I can't – don't you want to take over for me?!"

"You already have it half-inserted, you can't stop now!"

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Law dives his hand into the syringe box, draws up the adrenaline, and immediately plunges the needle into the patient. His heart is pounding louder than the noise from all the commotion: nurses rushing to bring equipment, Shachi reading numbers aloud and taking down clinical notes, curious hospital visitors _daring_ to walk past to get a sneak peek of the scene. He draws the needle back, reaches over to the oxygen dial with the free hand and swiftly restores it to maximum flow.

"Has his haemoglobin changed?"

"Not really," Shachi replies, "even though we transfused a lot of blood already."

Law sighs, and is suddenly conscious of the warm, exhaled air against his face mask.

"I think he has an internal bleed."

The patient rouses as the sedatives wear off, jet black hair damp in sweat, a young face scrunched in pain. Koala rushes to administer an extra dose of sedative. Law watches as the patient's face relaxes again and his limbs flop back down on the bed.

"I can feel his femoral pulse," Law mutters, two fingers resting on the patient's upper thigh. "That's weird."

 _What are you gonna do?_

Law nearly pulls a drip from the patient in fright. He looks around the room to identify the voice. And there he is: _Corazon_ , leaning against the wall between the sterile blue hospital curtains, arms crossed, observing Law with his usual indiscernible expression. The entire room becomes a silent moving picture for a second as Law locks Corazon into eye contact.

 _Find the bleed,_ Law wants to say, but just as he opens his mouth to actually say it, Corazon is gone.

"Law? Law –"

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound of panicking hospital staff ebbs back into his consciousness. Shachi is shaking him roughly by the shoulders, shouldering his weight just before his knees give in.

"Hey, man, you all right?!"

Law grabs onto the railing of the patient bed to steady himself.

"We need to take him into theatre," he mutters. "And fix the lines. I think there's a detection error."

Koala fumbles with the central line, unnecessarily puncturing the patient's neck multiple times along the way, but she finally inserts it in the right position (to Law's relief). She throws her bloodied hands up in the air: _That's it. I'm done._

Law ignores her eye roll.

"Everyone," he says, over the hysteria flooding the room. He wipes the sweat from his temple. "I'll take him into theatre to look for a bleed and seal it. We'll need to do another transfusion, so prepare three more packs of red blood cells and more fluids!"

A round of "Yes, doctor!" reverberates throughout the resuscitation bay.

xxxx

It's four in the morning now, and Law is on the phone in the doctors' office, slumping into the chair with one leg resting lazily on his other knee. He normally tolerates night shifts well. But right now, despite another a successful resuscitation, he was unsettled and much more exhausted than on any other night he's worked.

"Yes, hi," he says, his hand holding the telephone loosely, "this is Dr. Trafalgar Law, from ICU. I've got a 17-year-old male admitted for blunt chest trauma that led to haemorrhagic shock, and during surgery we found a subcapsular haematoma probably secondary to a delayed splenic rupture—"

Law doesn't actually speak English when he's talking to another doctor.

"— no significant medical background otherwise. Yes. Yeah, I've drained it. He's got a few left rib fractures but nothing affecting the heart. Orthopaedics is coming to review tomorrow. Mm… he's stable. Any recommendations?"

He fiddles with the stethoscope hanging around his neck as he listens to the senior's advice.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I don't know about the rest of his family, but his older brother died at the scene, so."

The senior doctor sighs and mumbles something about the situation being terribly sad. On the desk, Law's personal phone lights up with a new message. It's Sanji.

 _Holy shit, this guy I knew back in high school got killed after getting into a huge brawl. He was a delinquent, but still._

"Don't worry, I can take it from here," Law manages through a yawn, ignoring his phone. "He's on low flow oxygen right now. Sleeping. Thank you," he adds with a smirk, "I only learn from the best – namely, you."

Law hangs up with a soft chuckle.

He should probably reply to Sanji. Sanji can be an emotional wreck, especially since romantic prospects with Viola (the psychiatrist from ward 64) had terminated abruptly after she rejected a third date from him. He was probably up reading some sappy poetry for temporary consolation.

 _I know, I've got his younger brother in ICU._

Law has no idea why he reminds Sanji that he still exists.

His phone buzzes again.

 _WHAT? Luffy is in ICU?!_

The phone rings immediately before Law can even start to punch out a reply.

"Yes, Luffy—" he begins, but Sanji cuts him off.

"I'm heading there now," Sanji says hurriedly. Law hears drawers being opened and slammed shut again on the other end of the line.

"I didn't know you were close to him," says Law, pretending to sound hurtful. "Your keys are by the kitchen bench," he adds. "You always leave them there."

"I was going to visit him anyway, since his brother..." Sanji drifts off, with the familiar sound of house keys tinkering into the speaker. "What the fuck happened over there?"

"You mean the fight? No idea."

"You've fixed him up?"

"Yeah."

Sanji breathes out a genuine statement of gratitude to Law. That doesn't actually happen very often.

"Why are you even awake at this time?"

"Moping," Sanji replies, "about life."

Law laughs out loud.

"Sanji, if you keep this up, I will personally make a trip to ward 64 just to tell Viola what she's done to you."

"You're the most insensitive bastard. _Ever._ "

"Law?" A head has poked through the office door: it's Shachi. Law swivels around, phone still at his ear, and nods for Shachi to continue talking. Shachi mouths his message: _Bed 14 is awake._

Law nods again, waving a hand. He tunes back into the call.

"Sanji, I gotta go. See you when you get here. The patient's in bed –" Law stops, turning back around to Shachi, who fills in helpfully: "– bed 14."

When his phone has been put into his pocket and he's stood up to exit the office, Shachi is still staring at him, eyebrows furrowed with something in between suspicion and concern.

"What now?" says Law, with 4am irritability.

"Dude, you nearly K.O.'d before," Shachi replies. "We could've lost the patient if you didn't recover quickly. What happened?"

Great. This was the last thing Law wanted to talk about right now. Shachi wasn't exactly the kind of person Law would go to when it came to topics that ran any deeper than money, alcohol and sex – and even if he was, Law wasn't about to speak about it within the hospital premises, anyway.

"We don't have to talk. It's just – if you're not well..."

Shachi is more than capable of reading Law's face and eventually lets the topic go with a shrug. Sometimes, Law thinks he should stop being an open book and exploit the charms of his inborn enigma instead.

"Sure," Law says finally, with a tone that marked the end of the conversation.

A few moments later, an ear-piercing wail rings emphatically across the hallway. Law turns his head in the direction from where it came. He has seen and heard many forms of grief throughout his time in the hospital, but he doesn't think he's heard one quite as devastatingly loud as this.

" _WHEEEERREEEE_ IS AAACCCCEEEE?"

"Bed 14," Shachi answers, before Law can think to ask.

The patients in other beds are grumbling bitterly behind their curtains in response. It's the loudest the ward has been for a long time.

"Are you serious? It's like he's awoken the dead."

"Yeah, he's tearing at his lines and the sedatives don't work on him. I wonder if he thinks he's well enough to get out of ICU."

xxxx

Law decides that the patient is _not_ getting out of ICU.

"Koala has a bit of a soft spot for him, so we thought we'd better call you to make sure..." Shachi explains.

Law cross checks the patient's name with the charts for bed 14. _Monkey D. Luffy._ Then he looks up at the mess in front of him: a small-built young man, no longer connected to oxygen, external wounds reopened, drips completely detached from his body, and in psychological distress. He writes all of this down in the notes.

Law knows 'psychological distress' is actually a horrific understatement.

"Luffy," he starts carefully. Luffy is sobbing loudly, hyperventilating, and all the drips that were detached from his body were made up for by the voluminous dripping from his nose. Law waits for the bawling patient to acknowledge his presence before continuing.

"Luffy," he says again, firmly, once he has made eye contact. "My name is Law. I'm the doctor looking after you."

Luffy stops sobbing for a moment as he tries to steady his breath.

"I — I couldn't..."

"I'm sorry," Law says. He means it.

Luffy reaches out and tugs lightly onto Law's coat. A stunned silence falls over the room. Law is about to place his hand around Luffy's to calm him down, but Luffy twists his fist upward, catching Law completely off guard.

"You," says Luffy, more threateningly than Law would have liked. "You're responsible for this, right?" He raises his other hand and points at his feet, all tied to the railings with bed restraints. His limbs are heavily bruised from what Law figured was rigorous struggling against the restraints. "What - what do you think you're doing to me?"

Law doesn't answer.

"This is torture," Luffy continues, his voice cracking. "You think I want this? You think this could make me happy? _To live?!_ Fuck you and your stupid life-saving procedures! You know _nothing_ about what I want! You're just some stupid doctor who thinks he's doing good in this fucked up world-"

Shachi is at the left side of the bed, trying to push Luffy back into the sheets.

"—but some of us don't even have anything to _live_ for!"

Law is actually thinking about how Luffy is the kind of patient he _hates_ having to look after.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asks, quietly.

He's not completely heartless.

Luffy's wide eyes stare straight into Law's, and he slowly lets go of Law's coat with a strained shove.

"You didn't save Ace."

"I couldn't—"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ACE?"

"I'm sorry," Law says again, "your brother —"

"DON'T SAY IT!"

A painstaking silence stretches out, and Law doesn't dare cut it short. It goes for as long as it takes for Luffy to catch his breath in between gasps.

"You saved me, but not Ace," Luffy says again, face stricken with despair. Tears begin to well up at the corners of his sunken eyes. "I hate it here, I hate that you think you're saving me, I hate the world outside. And even if you _do_ let me out of here, fuck, I don't know what to do - I wouldn't know where to go."

"Do you... have other family members?" Law asks.

"No. Well – yeah. But he's not someone who cares about me, anyway."

"Your dad?"

"Sabo. Another brother. Never comes back to visit because he's too fucking busy working as a fancy-ass diplomat —"

Law knows a little bit about Sabo, but not that he was related to this patient. According to Koala, he's been travelling around the world for the past few years and hasn't had the chance to come back home for a while. The two lovebirds only see each other when Koala goes overseas to visit him during her breaks.

Speaking of the devil.

"Shachi, where's Koala?"

"Yeah — about that," says Shachi, "she's going to the airport to pick up Sabo. He's flying in tonight."

Law looks back at Luffy, whose eyes are swollen and red. But Luffy doesn't return the gaze. He seems more intent on amputating his own feet with his sullen glare than he is on any conversation with Law.

"Well," says Law, tucking his clipboard under an arm. "Sanji's coming to see you. He's on his way."

Luffy's face suddenly becomes a mixture of panic and fury, and Law realises that he's screwed up when Luffy bursts out: "Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Nope," Law replies automatically. He shouldn't have said that. He'd slam his own head against a wall right now, if he could.

"Just because we've got a couple of mutual friends, you think it's okay to just _tell_ them where I am?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me."

"You need to fucking leave me alone," Luffy says, pulling the hospital doona over his body.

Shachi is shaking his head, and Law resists the urge to flip the finger at him.

Law really needs a break.

xxxx

It takes a while for Law and Shachi to replace Luffy's wound dressings again and reattach all the lines back in their place. Luffy, although unwilling to comply with Law's requests, had at least stopped sobbing loudly - even if that meant resorting to angry glares and sniffles in between tears that disappear into his pillow. Shachi is the one who places a sympathetic hand every now and then on Luffy's shoulder. Law, for the most part, doesn't say anything.

Some time halfway through the procedure, a young man carrying a brown shoulder bag appears outside the room, brushing through his thick afro nervously as he peers inside.

"Sorry," he stammers. Law looks up, holding a pair of sharp scissors in the middle of slicing away at a wound dressing. "You look busy — um, I'll just wait."

Luffy, who figured before that the best way to avoid conversation was to pretend to be asleep, stirs underneath the bright blue sheets and equipment placed on top of him. Law presses a palm onto his abdomen to keep him still.

"Usopp," Luffy breathes, with evident relief. He turns around to face Law. "Hey, why did you tell—"

"I didn't," Law replies. He's not going for a second round of being the patient punching bag. But despite this, Luffy is tearing up again.

"USOPP!"

"Luffy! Oh thank God," Usopp says, stepping gingerly into the room.

Law can feel Usopp's eyes rest on him as he applies a gauze swab to a laceration on Luffy's skin.

"I don't mind an audience."

Usopp immediately takes up on Law's offer and comes around to the side of the bed, next to Shachi.

Shachi chuckles and adds: "Hell, I'm getting performance anxiety, Law."

They were almost finished, anyway. Law tries his best to zone out of the incoherent conversation between Luffy and Usopp, and they make it easy for him because Usopp is crying a mini river and Luffy isn't even talking in sentences. There is some blabbering about "Sanji letting the others know", which makes Law regret that he's set off a very chaotic chain reaction. Shachi stifles a snigger across from the bed as though Law had said that aloud.

"We're done here," Law finally says, as he wraps up the equipment. Shachi is already rushing off to the next patient (apparently agitated and delirious). "I'll leave you two alone. If you need me, just let one of the nurses know."

Usopp nods: he's the only one listening. Luffy is furiously wiping his own tears, struggling to maintain steady breaths. As Law walks out of the room he catches the only audible thing Luffy has said since Usopp arrived: "This must look really bad, I didn't want you to — to worry."

"Oi, Law — watch it."

Law staggers back in surprise.

"Sanji," he says, genuinely relieved to see the blonde man. "What took you so long?"

They were just outside bed 14, and Sanji leans against the window of the room, hands tucked away in his pockets. Law doesn't remember the last time he's seen Sanji so worn out.

"Contacting all of Luffy's friends," Sanji replies quietly.

"I know. I took the hit for it," Law says flatly, taking off his bloody gown and mask and dumping it into a bin. He removes his hair net and turns to the nearest reflective surface to run a hand briefly through his messy, black hair.

"Your hair is fine, Law," Sanji remarks, a corner of his mouth raised in a smirk. "How's the night shift?"

Law knows Sanji is actually only interested in Luffy's condition and not how his night shift has been.

"Not bad. He's been resisting treatment but we've got it under control."

There's a silence between the two of them, underscored by the voices of Luffy and Usopp inside, who are exchanging grief and sympathy and everything in between.

"Hey," Law says suddenly, "Before, when we were resuscitating him — Luffy, I mean."

Sanji raises an eyebrow.

"I saw Corazon. I was scared as fuck, I didn't think I'd see him again."

Law doesn't know how to explain the situation succinctly, so he decides to stop there. Sanji knows about the hallucinations of Corazon that started when Law was halfway through med school, several years ago.

"I want you to listen to me," Sanji says, after a long pause. "You're not crazy. No matter what you see, you're still the sane, rational Law that I know."

The great thing about Sanji is that he knows exactly what to say when Law is freaking out. Law manages a wry smile, and suddenly he feels like a vulnerable child.

"I'm going back to the office," Law says, in a feeble attempt to change the topic. "My shift ends at 8am, and I've got a few things to do before that."

"Take care, man. I worry about you sometimes." Sanji is grinning now, because he knows Law hates it when people worry about him.

But Law doesn't mind. Not tonight.


	2. Invitation

**Thanks so much for all your favourites, follows and reviews (I definitely didn't see it coming for the first chapter)! They all motivate me so much :) Please continue to fav/follow/review whenever you can.**

xxxxx

The next couple of days go by with a thick blur and it's Monday before Law knows it. He is currently in the doctors' office fighting the morning time zone with three shots of espresso, watching the sunlight chase dust particles through the window and prance on metallic surfaces, only to bounce back jovially at him from the white walls of the office.

The blinds quickly go down with a slick _thump_.

"Bed 14 has been asking to see you, you know."

It's Penguin. Working with him and not having to deal with Shachi's cheekiness one highlight of Law's day shifts.

"How is he?"

"A bit moody. Understandably, so–"

Law considers skipping Luffy on the morning ward round.

"–getting a lot of visitors," Penguin continues.

Penguin wasn't wrong. When Law finally arrives at Luffy's bed that morning he finds a man sporting curly blonde locks bent forward in the visitor's armchair, the tips of his fingers pressed tightly together in front of him. He looks like he's just been dragged out of a very important business meeting, and yet he still makes a simple white shirt tucked into a classic navy pair of chinos look ridiculously vogue. Law leans against the door frame as he waits for the man to finish his exchange with Luffy.

"–talk, Luffy," the man says. "I'm just as devastated as you are."

Law tries to steal a quick glance at Luffy, whose expressionless face is much more intimidating than when he is overtly angry. Luffy catches the glance anyway. He looks back at the man, and tilts his head in Law's direction.

"Doctor's here."

The visitor jerks around, and the old scar around the his left eye makes him instantly recognisable.

"Didn't mean to interrupt. I can come back in five," says Law.

"No, it's fine," Luffy replies quickly. His eyes have sunken into their orbits. "We're done."

The visitor stands up with a small sigh and picks up a briefcase from beside the armchair. He rises to match Law's height, and emits an aura of a refined and worldly gentleman who hasn't yet seen rejection until now. Law isn't surprised.

"You're Dr. Trafalgar, aren't you? It's nice to finally meet you."

"Pleasure, Sabo," Law returns, extending a hand. "I've heard a bit about you from Koala."

Sabo lets out a genuine laugh - no wonder he's in diplomacy. He takes Laws hand into a firm grip.

"I guess I'll see you around then."

Law thinks it's unlikely because of Sabo's overseas commitments, but he nods anyway. He waits for the diplomat to exit the room before turning back around to address Luffy.

"So," he begins, tapping his pen against the clipboard.

Luffy shrugs. "When can I get out of here?"

"We'll see." Law writes the clinical notes as he talks, checking relevant numbers along the way. "I heard you asked to see me. I thought maybe you wanted to yell in my face again because, you know, I'm a great listener."

Luffy presses a palm against his forehead. "Actually, I — I'm sorry for being a massive dick that night. I wasn't in my right mind."

A patient saying sorry for the trouble they've caused is not something Law is used to hearing.

"And - um. Thanks for calling my friends."

"Actually," Law says, losing to the overwhelming urge to correct Luffy, "I didn't tell anyone except for Sanji."

"Well, still. You saved my life."

"I get paid for it."

"Really," says Luffy. Law is listening to Luffy's lungs with his stethoscope at this point, and doesn't reply.

"Just breathe normally," he says instead, holding the diaphragm flush against Luffy's chest.

Neither of them say any more for the next few minutes as Law performs his routine examination. He notes that the bed restraints have been removed and that Luffy's bruises are now starting to fade away.

"You need to drink much more water," he says eventually, as he finishes his notes with a signature. "Depending on how your wounds heal, we might be able to discharge you in the next couple of days."

Luffy forces a grim smile, and slumps back against the pillows propped up behind him. "It fucking pisses me off, you know. I can't see a stranger without thinking that they're going to shoot me dead. I feel safer here."

Law drops the pen into his front pocket and stows the patient notes at the end of the bed. Luffy seems to take the lack of response as an invitation to continue.

"I'm wondering if you could sedate me into a deep sleep."

Law's eyes widen at the suggestion. "What do you mean?"

"It just hurts a lot. All of this."

Law bites his lip and indulges in an audible sigh. He shakes his head.

"There's no way I can do that."

Law knows that aside from inappropriate drug administration being a safety and legal issue in itself, putting the patient to sleep wasn't going to help him either, psychologically. He would just be running away from his trauma instead of spending the same amount of time healing himself.

Luffy clenches his fingers around the white blanket draped across his legs.

"I've been seeing Ace a lot. I know it's not real. But he usually sits right there–" he points to the armchair Sabo was sitting in about ten minutes before, "- and just smiles at me. I know, I'm crazy –"

"You're not."

Luffy stops mid-sentence, his finger still pointing at the chair. He doesn't look at Law.

"No one else sees him," Luffy whispers.

Law takes off the stethoscope from his neck and seats himself mindfully at the edge of the bed. He feels bad for Luffy, even if he doesn't admit it out loud. And he doesn't usually have the heart to have these conversations with patients but Luffy has pulled him in too far now for him to back off.

"You're experiencing symptoms of bereavement. It's not uncommon after a particularly traumatic event."

Law is suddenly conscious of the fact that Luffy has an endearing scar just underneath his left eye.

"There's this guy," he continues in a low voice, eyes flickering quickly to the door for any passers-by, "that I used to see occasionally during med school. I saw him again while we were resuscitating you."

Luffy looks startled. "Did you lose someone, too?"

"No, actually." Law emits a soft laugh. "He's a figment of my imagination. He doesn't, hasn't and will probably never exist in real life."

Luffy's stare and slight gape makes Law feel like he's the one who needs help.

"He's a mute. Doesn't say anything to me, and he used to appear when I was having trouble sleeping or when I was stressed out." Law folds his arms across his chest. "I think it was a coping mechanism on my part."

"So... you're saying I'm developing a coping mechanism."

Law shrugs. "Maybe."

The more Law thinks about it, the more he believes that each interaction he has with Luffy is a big, big mistake. How can a doctor be telling his patient about his own hallucinations and expect the patient to trust him with his life? Law can't even justify himself with an exceptionally traumatic experience, like Luffy can. Worse yet: Law's medical career could come to a crashing end if word got out and the hospital had any reason to believe he wasn't fit for practice.

"Do me a favour and just keep it between me and you."

Luffy doesn't bat an eyelid to it.

"Promise," he says. He holds up a pinky, and Law has to stifle a snort. He hooks his pinky around Luffy's anyway.

Xxxxx

Law dreaded subsequent encounters with Luffy. The universe seemed to grant Law any reason to let his guard down since Luffy's admission, so much so that when the next ward round came along Law nearly sent Koala off to review him instead. (He scrapped the idea when he realised her clinical judgment would be even more clouded than his). To Law's immense relief, however, the next couple of days pass uneventfully with the patient's rapid progress of wound healing, their conversations treading cautiously around the pink elephant that they agreed to trap within the room.

It's discharge. He is standing outside the room of bed 14, quickly glazing over Luffy's clinical notes as if cramming for a college final, even though he's already memorised the details of every test and every procedure that he ordered to have done. Inside, he can hear Penguin attempting to strike conversation with Luffy.

"I heard he flew in just to see you, kid."

"I don't want anything to do with him." Luffy's response is blunt and unforgiving.

Law takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He grabs the patient list from his front pocket and unfolds it carefully, scanning the names of other patients that he could see before coming back around to bed 14. Before long, his eyes zoom in on an uncomplicated case.

 _Kuzan, 47-year-old male with closed reduction external fixation for right neck of femur fracture, right calf amputated for aggressive infection due to trauma. Needs pain management. WARD 5._

Pain management was Koala's job. But Law figures she would be elated if he cut down her to-do list for the time being. He decides to make his way out of the ICU, reminding the nurses that he was only a pager away if they needed to call him urgently, and sprints comfortably up five flights of stairs before he arrives at the patient's ward.

As it turns out, Kuzan is an extremely tall man of muscular build, with darkened skin and a face framed by thick black hair that fell gently upon his shoulders. His right thigh is held together by metal bars that have been drilled into the remaining bone that ended with a stump. He grips the newspaper in his hands tightly, flicking impatiently between pages that didn't seem to satisfy him, and it's not until Law clears his throat and introduces himself that he drops the newspaper an inch - just enough to reveal the frown in his upper face.

"I hear you've been experiencing a lot of pain after your leg amputation," says Law.

Kuzan nods, and draws a deep sigh. "Naturally. I've been punched, stabbed and shot at many times, but I've never felt this kind of pain before –"

Law opens his mouth slightly, ready to call the emergency physicians to ask whether they knew they picked up a criminal case.

"– I was working as a cop."

"I'm glad you clarified that."

"Until the other day. I don't plan on working anymore."

"Retired, at 47?"

"Lost faith in the system," Kuzan replies. He shows Law the front page headline of the newspaper he is holding.

 _PROTESTS CONTINUE OVER FATAL POLICE SHOOTING OF INNOCENT MAN._

Kuzan folds up the newspaper quickly and tucks it underneath his pillow. "A colleague. Killed a lad. They're still investigating it, but the damage is done. Living as a cop with this kind of reputation isn't easy, you know."

Law stammers in his next response. "Is this the one from the other day?"

"Yeah. You haven't heard, doc? He shot at a 20-year-old kid who started a fight with another man, but the media seems to think the kid was the victim, not the culprit."

"What's your take?" Law asks, careful to not sound too curious. How an officer could make that kind of mistake irks him to hell and back, and suddenly he realises that he is completely incapable of understanding how Luffy must feel.

"I think the media is right, for once."

xxxxx

"Of course I'm serious. It's the least I can do in return for you saving me."

Luffy's fists land on the bedsheets. He looks determined to win.

"What? I told you, this is my job. I get _paid_ ," Law has to spell out. The nursing staff are rushing to prepare the patient to be discharged home, removing monitoring equipment and dressings from Luffy's body, and Law has just finished writing the discharge summary and signing orders for medications. It should have been a smooth discharge; dealing with a suddenly demanding 17-year-old was the last problem Law expected to face.

"You gotta come and have a few drinks with us. I'm leaving to go to Grandpa's in a week. And he's overseas," Luffy adds. His face is twisted into a sulk now, and Law can't help but laugh at it. "I won't be back for a while."

"Why's that?"

"I dunno, gotta get out of here for a bit."

Law nods. He clicks a pen impatiently with his right hand as the nurses release the brakes on Luffy's bed and start to wheel him out of the room. As the doctor, Law had to escort the patient along to the discharge bay, and his attempts to keep conversation to a minimum failed miserably just minutes into the transfer. He walks beside Luffy's bed as the nurses wheel the bed around corners and into hallways.

"Sanji will be there."

Law glances down at Luffy, who is seated upright on the bed. Spritely, alert and oriented. Law throws a quick smirk and shakes his head.

"Sanji was right, you _are_ a party pooper."

Law raises an eyebrow. "What else has Sanji said to you about me?"

"That you're an extremely competent man, but that you radiate this negative energy that you call-"

"Cynicism," Law cuts in, knowing exactly how Sanji would have said it. He palms his face. "Oh my god."

He feels his phone buzz inside his pocket. Looking sideways, he notices that Luffy has his own phone in his hand.

"Let me know if you're coming," Luffy says brightly.

Law draws his phone from his pocket and stares at the text message notification on his lock screen. He blinks multiple times. "How–?"

"Sanji gave me your contact details."

 _That bastard._

Law realises he hadn't seen true relief until they wheel Luffy into the discharge bay. He runs his hand through his hair, fingers digging into his scalp as he does so. Everything about this was wrong. He lowers his voice and bends down to Luffy's level, all the while still looking straight ahead.

"Luffy, you're my patient - not my _friend_. I really can't do this."

Luffy looks like Law had just slapped him across the face.

"How about this," Law says slowly, tucking away his phone back into his pocket. "How about - I let you know tomorrow?"

Luffy suddenly grins widely - and it's the widest grin Law has ever seen.


	3. Affair With Spontaneity

The last time Law had seen Corazon was during the last exam period in med school; it was also the first time that someone else had witnessed Law talking to thin air. Corazon never appeared again after that day. He was never supposed to be discovered by anyone else.

"Are you worried about it?"

That person was Sanji. He's paying Law a visit today, twirling a bottle of beer in his slender fingers, an elbow resting on the marble white kitchen bench. His work clothes—a black suit layering over an unbuttoned white shirt— is a fitting complement for the equally monochromic interior of Law's apartment. The fingers on his other hand are tapping restlessly on the counter. Law knows he's itching for a cigarette.

"Auditory hallucinations superimposed on the visual hallucinations is probably progress," Law replies, thinking back to what Corazon's voice sounded like in the chaos of the resuscitation bay, and how he looked like he'd come straight out of a circus. At least, this is what Law's mind conjured up. Corazon used to communicate with Law by writing on pieces of paper from a notebook that he always kept in his back pocket—even his pen never made a sound against the rough paper—and Law would talk to him aloud as long as he was alone in his apartment and not under the scrutiny of judgmental eyes. As far as he could tell, the hallucination was harmless and it never altered the way he lived his life. Corazon wasn't _real_.

Law glances sideways at the wall clock as he stirs lazily his fourth coffee of the day. It's 9:00pm. He isn't hungry, but Sanji had insisted on bringing back leftovers from the five-star casino restaurant where he worked as a kitchen hand: leftovers bearing the fragrance of steamed salmon and zesty lemon, diffusing whimsically through the air. Law almost considers eating dinner first.

"See, Law," Sanji says suddenly, "this is why you don't sleep well. You drink coffee late at night and then complain about _sleep deprivation_ the next morning— don't tell me you've ever wondered why."

"I have research to do. Some of the patients are complicated."

"You're setting the scene for your hallucinations."

Law leans against the kitchen bench opposite Sanji, feeling the warmth of the coffee run down his throat as he sips his mug. He knows this. But he's a cardiac surgeon in training and, almost by definition, is required to know everything, sleep little, and maintain a background level of stress. He doesn't say it, but Sanji bringing him food every now and then helps a lot. (Law returns the favour by insisting on Sanji wearing nicotine patches and making his distaste for Sanji's smoking habit terrifyingly clear).

"Look, if you see Corazon again, can you please talk to someone?" Sanji continues, his voice suddenly low. He leans forward against the edge of the bench. "I don't want any of this to affect your career — or the way you live your life."

Law's response is stained with the bitterness of his coffee. "So, Viola's using you to forward all the crazies to her to boost business. Have a nice lovely chat, douse them with drugs, tell them everything is going to be okay when it's actually not—"

He stops. Sanji has placed his beer onto the counter, his face pale with indignance.

"I'm just looking out for you, doc," Sanji says, quietly. "Viola has nothing to do with this."

Law swipes his mug from the counter and takes his place on the black leather couch. He fixates his eyes on the snow white walls of the apartment, takes another sip, and leans back until he's almost slouching. There is a steely silence between the two men before Law decides to break it.

"Sorry. Let's talk about something else," he says, grabbing the remote control from between the cushions huddled behind him. He doesn't have the heart to debate with Sanji tonight.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Law's answer comes with no hesitation.

"Luffy."

A news anchor appears on the TV, with dramatically worded headlines scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Sanji spins around on the stool to face Law.

"Actually," Law adds, "I'd like to know why _you_ thought it'd be a hilarious idea to give him my number."

Sanji cracks an annoyingly knowing smile. "I did it to get him to shut up about you."

"Really, now."

Law skulls down the rest of the coffee from his mug, appreciating the light pounding of his head as he feels the caffeine finally kicking in. Pixellated CCTV recordings of gunshots are being looped on the news channel, accompanied by fervent yelling of men and the generalised white noise of panicking bystanders. As though the story hadn't been reported enough. Law sits up straight against the couch and places an elbow on the armrest, his head leaning on outstretched fingers, and watches as the news anchor calmly repeats the story of Portgas D. Ace.

"— _a successful entrepreneur at just 20 years old, allegedly shot and killed at the scene by Superintendent Sakazuki. It is not known whether the shooting was intentional but sources have confirmed that he will be suspended from duty for the time being as investigations continue. In the meantime, Ace's younger brother, who was also present at the scene, remains in a stable condition after being discharged from the local hospital—"_

Law flicks between around ten different channels, and they all remind him why he doesn't watch TV in the first place. His index finger lingers over the button for the next channel, pressing down every few seconds between content-deprived news stations, overrated action movies, dating shows, reality shows featuring talentless celebrities who practically made a living out of cat fights and screaming. Law needs to buy subscriptions to more intelligible programs.

Sanji's voice breaks into his reverie of eliminating idiots who run TV stations.

"So, you coming?"

"Nope. Sent him a text already." Law's reply is immediate. He isn't willing to entertain the topic.

No reply yet, though.

Sanji shakes his head. "Luffy thinks he's found a friend in you, and I really don't think you can do anything about it, Law."

"Challenge accepted."

" _I_ want you to join us for drinks, too."

Law stares at Sanji. " _Why_?"

"Your life—" Sanji returns, pointing a stern finger back at Law "—is all medicine and the operating theatre, and I think you need a more diverse network than just your hospital colleagues."

Law groans. He knows where this is going.

"If this is about me being single again —"

"It isn't about that anymore," Sanji says impatiently. "I just think that you need a break from everything to do with work. And I know you do, too."

Law doesn't have a good comeback for this, because, once again, Sanji is right. He does need to get away from work. What Law _doesn't_ agree with is how he should go about it since he would much rather be left to his own devices, but he feels guilty about badmouthing Viola in Sanji's face and knows he has to make up for it.

Meeting a bunch of different faces might not be as torturous as it sounds.

"You're practically begging," Law finally says, flashing a small grin at Sanji. He draws his phone from his pocket and navigates to the conversation thread with Luffy.

 _I've shifted my plans. See you tomorrow,_ Law types. He re-reads the message several times before hitting send.

"I don't care," Sanji replies, grinning back at Law. He slips gracefully from the stool and tucks his hands into his pockets. "Remember to eat your food."

Law rolls his eyes as Sanji walks to the door. They exchange good nights and take cares before Sanji waves a hand and closes the door behind him. A loud ding eches into the empty apartment. Law looks down at the phone in his hand: it's Luffy.

 _Yay! Glad you can make it :D_

Law is already regretting how soft he can be when it's for Sanji.

xxxxx

"So you're telling me," Shachi says, too loudly for Law's comfort, "that you're going for drinks tonight with a patient you literally _just_ discharged two days ago."

"There are going to be other people," Law hisses, through gritted teeth. He pulls off his scrubs, shivering as the cold air moulds onto his bare, lightly tanned skin. The men's change room is full of surgeons and hospital staff who have just finished another day of surgery, undressing from scrubs and dressing back into casual clothing, mumbling amongst waves of tired conversation. Law has always been held in high regard, especially with his seniors—and he sure as hell doesn't want the topic to catch those waves.

But Penguin chimes in with the same incredulousness. "What happened to your code of maintaining a strictly professional relationship with patients for at least five years?"

"Can you two just shut up for a moment?"

The two nurses snigger beside Law as he slides into a thin, grey hoodie, loose enough to be casual and yet fitting enough to lightly outline the contours of his torso. He grabs his gym bag from the locker and swings it over his shoulder.

"Maybe I just need to teach you how to be just as charming as I am."

"Now that," Shachi says with a wink, "would be very useful."

Law laughs, and claps each of them on the back before he leaves the change room.

The sky is already twilit when he gets to his car, blended with hues of indigo, pink and orange through the windscreen. It's probably around 7pm. A cool breeze dances briefly through his hair before he slumps into the driver's seat and closes the door. He draws his phone, opening the message Luffy sent him a few hours ago while he was still in theatre.

 _This is actually Zoro's address, but I'm staying with him for the moment :)_

Law copies the address into the GPS screen.

"What the fuck am I doing," he mutters, sighing under his breath. And because he has convinced himself that he doesn't actually care, he has not asked who on earth Zoro is, even if he _does_ wonder why Luffy has invited him to the apartment of some dude that he doesn't even know. No, Law is not concerned about his own safety _at all_.

Sanji is the only reason why he is still going ahead with this plan.

Soon, Law finds himself standing in front of a worn down apartment, twenty minutes after a laid-back drive across several quiet suburbs. Sounds of bursting laughter ring through the door. When he knocks, the chatter stops abruptly, and he hears the shuffling of feet before the door swings open to release the sweet scent of alcohol into the hallway.

"Yo."

The man who answers the door is tall and of muscular build, and is wearing a navy tank top over a black pair of trackpants. He raises an eyebrow. Law is lost for words, and it's not because the man's hair resembles grass.

"Hey. Is Luffy—" he begins, but is quickly cut off.

"Oh, Zoro! That's Law, the doctor who treated me last week!"

Luffy has appeared behind Zoro's broad shoulders, and he's grinning so hard that Law thinks his lips might even tear. Zoro's face softens, and he, too, cracks a smile.

"Law, huh?" he says, taking Law's hand into a solid grip. "Thanks for everything you've done for Luffy! Come on in."

Zoro leads the way, and Luffy lags behind, his pace matching with Law's.

"How are you?" Law asks, glancing sideways at Luffy. Because he doesn't know what else to say, and because he also likes to follow up on his patients' recovery process. So he tells himself.

Luffy is still smiling. "Not bad. Just catching up with people before I leave. I'm really happy you could make it."

There is a brief pause, and all of a sudden Law feels an arm swing emphatically across his shoulders. He immediately recognises the scent of tobacco on cologne.

"So, you turned up after all," says Sanji, with a smirk in his eyes.

"I like to honour my own word."

Zoro's living room is compact, but complete with a small couch and a couple of armchairs, the floor adorned with a fluffy, beige rug that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. There are beer bottles scattered across the floor. Law scans the rest of the room: the guy with the afro and long nose (he recalls the name Usopp) is sitting on one of the armchairs—and the only person he hasn't met is the orange-haired girl, dressed in a satin camisole and jeans that defined the curves of her buttocks, sitting on the floor with her slim legs folded to one side. She is holding a glass of red wine in her fingers, and flutters her eyelids as she looks Law up and down.

"Luffy," she says, in a voice as silky as her top, "you never told me that Dr. Law is quite the good-looker. I'm sure he's rich, too."

It isn't Luffy who reacts to this comment, but Zoro.

"Pull the brakes, Nami! Your shallowness is making me gag."

Nami raises her pinky in the air as she takes a gulp from her wine glass. "You can't blame a girl when a handsome doctor walks into the room," she muses, throwing a flirtatious look at Law. As a reflex, Law smiles back at her, making sure that it is as empty and meaningless as the ones he reserves for his overly ardent female fans from the nursing team.

Law catches the long roll of Zoro's eyes.

"So — just an official introduction," Luffy says quickly, "Law, these are my friends—"

Law nods, looking each person in the eye.

"—my friends, this is Law. He's also Sanji's best friend."

"It's a burden," Sanji remarks, and he staggers as Law throws a light punch at his arm. "Hey, that kinda hurt!"

Law laughs, but quickly receives a punch back from Sanji.

xxxxx

They drink and talk for hours, and by the eleventh hour Luffy had drunk himself off to sleep via a bad case of King's Cup, Sanji had taken over Zoro's miniature kitchen to cook up some nibbles ("You won't last long if you drink on an empty stomach," he had said), and in the living room, Zoro and Nami are still aggressively trying to outdo each other on multiple whiskey shots, their voices growing steadily louder with each one, neither showing any signs of faltering. Law thinks they should get a room, but he keeps this to himself.

He also thinks he's the only one who's still mildly sober.

"You know, Law," Usopp says liberally, leaning to the side of his armchair as he waves his tumbler aimlessly, "I thought you were really intimidating the first time I saw you. Super scary," he adds, nodding fervently. "Brilliant though, because —" he burps loudly, "—because I could _never_ do what you do. _Never_. All that blood and cutting up body parts and everything, _ugh_."

Law nods, but he's not interested in Usopp's first impression of him.

"I didn't know Luffy was in such a dire situation," he says, steering back to the conversation he had with Luffy just before he had fallen asleep. He is referring to how Luffy has no other family or financial support, and how he plans to stay with his grandfather in the country for an indefinite amount of time to properly sort himself out, psychologically. How Ace used to work diligently at the local youth service that he founded himself to send Luffy to school with all his earnings. How Luffy doesn't want to stay in his apartment anymore because it hurts to live there without Ace. And how Sabo had left home to obsessively pursue a career in diplomacy, but never kept in contact or came back home to visit Luffy and Ace. Until now.

At the moment, Luffy is fast asleep with a comforter draped over his body, his head resting on a plump cushion, just next to where Law is sitting.

"Yeah, Sabo was a bit of a dick to them," Usopp says, holding a hand up to the side of his mouth as if he were whispering a secret. "He became such an important person on the national level that he neglected nearly everyone who cared for him."

"Koala, too?" asks Law.

"If you've been paying any attention at all, Law," Sanji calls from the kitchen, "you'd know Koala's been a bit stressed out lately."

Law lowers his gaze on the sleeping Luffy, whose lips are curved upward into a small smile, face flushed a soft pink, lightly snoring with each breath he takes.

"Luffy's stubborn, you know. He won't talk to Sabo, even though Sabo's tried visiting him in hospital and contacting him through his phone—loads of times," Usopp says, following his gaze.

"I know."

A few minutes later, the shouting simmers down to inaudible mumbles and slurred sentences, and Law looks up to find Zoro guiding a staggering Nami to the bedroom.

"You can't tell me where to go!" Nami yells. "You don't even know the way to your own—"

"Will you shut up already?!" Zoro retorts back. "You're completely wasted and you need to go to bed!"

Law figures Zoro had won that round. He cocks his head just in time to catch Zoro closing the bedroom door shut behind Nami.

"You can stay for the night if you like," Zoro says, gesturing to Law. "I've got spare pillows."

"No, I think I'll—"

"Next time, we're getting Law drunk," Zoro announces. He yawns loudly, his arms outstretching into the air. "But I'm gonna hit the sack now. Night, y'all."

He slumps onto the floor outside the bedroom with an arm bent over as a head rest, and immediately begins snoring as soon as his eyelids shut.

Law suddenly feels like he needs some shuteye, too.

"Here."

Usopp shoves a pillow and sleeping bag onto Law's lap.

"It's Saturday tomorrow, so take it easy. You said you have the day off, right?"

"I'm actually on call," Law replies, suddenly remembering that Koala is on duty tonight. Friday night isn't the best night to be on duty. "But yes."

Sanji emerges from the kitchen carrying a small plate of canapés. He throws Law a concerned look.

"Just stay for the night, Law. You look exhausted. Driving isn't a good idea."

Usopp reaches for a canapé and swallows it in one gulp. Law sighs, once again succumbing to Sanji's reason and the urgent call of his sleep debt, and does just the same.

xxxxx

 **A little bit more character development this chapter (and quick dose of Straw Hat antics, too)! Thanks for your patience, and thank you so much for the reviews/follows – uni has been stressful and it's really motivating to have you all tag along with Law in this story.**

 **\- Avery**


	4. Night Drive

Out of all the ways to wake up, Law certainly did not expect to be woken up by a limp arm slapping onto his face. He also doesn't remember having fallen asleep in a sleeping bag. On the ground. In an apartment belonging to a friend of a patient who was a friend of a friend.

An elbow swings back across the bridge of his nose.

"Ow, fuck!"

He sits straight up and cradles his face. His eyelids feel like they've been glued together. He leans forward, slowly, and when he finally manages to force his eyes open, the bright red of fresh blood greets him from his palm. The culprit's arm is hanging off the edge of the couch.

"God dammit, Luffy," Law hisses into the silence, applying pressure to his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. To his annoyance, Luffy's slumber is not perturbed by this, and Law is tempted to kick Luffy awake. He entertains the idea for a few seconds before he realises the blood is still trickling down his fingers.

A loudly snoring Usopp snorts in his sleep as Law rushes to the kitchen to search for a paper towel. Or a tea towel. A sponge. Whatever. Didn't Zoro have _anything_ in this apartment? At the threat of the blood spilling onto the floor, Law resorts to bringing his head underneath a running tap at the sink, and rubs gently above his upper lip. Soon enough, the running water in the sink becomes clear.

"Nami used to stick tampons up Sanji's nose when he got nosebleeds."

Law jerks his head around to fire a vicious glare. The light of the fridge illuminates the soft features of Luffy's face, framed by bed hair, his eyes lacking the permanent wonder that Law had grown to associate with him. He looked like he'd been _forced_ awake, that bastard. But Luffy's attention is focused on whatever is in the fridge, which was nothing, apparently, because his dozed expression suddenly droops into a disappointed frown, and he turns around to Law as though Law was responsible for doing something about it.

"Why the hell are _you_ up?" Law whispers fiercely.

Luffy raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. "Is something wrong?"

"You fucking gave me a bleeding nose."

"Oh, I'm the one who did that?" Luffy chuckles, after a few seconds of contemplating. "I'm flattered. Is it kinda like when Sanji—"

Law's stare drills right through the rest of Luffy's sentence.

"No, Luffy," he says slowly, "you literally whacked me across the nose while your drunk ass was fast asleep."

To Law's surprise, Luffy bursts into laughter.

"Okay, okay," he says, "my bad. But hell, you can be _scary_."

The sound of a telephone rings between the two of them, and the others in the apartment stir variably in their sleep. It's Law's phone.

"Law, it's Koala. I need some help."

"Mm. Fire away," Law says, shifting his weight to one side.

"I've got a 72-year-old guy who's severely short of breath with chest pain. The ECG shows an SVT, troponin levels normal —"

"Is he stable?"

"Yeah—"

"Try the Valsalva manoeuvre," Law replies. "If it doesn't work, give adenosine. Remember to warn the patient that his heart will stop for a few seconds with that drug. I'll be there soon in case things go south."

"Don't you want to know the rest of the story?"

"You can fill me in when I get there."

Law hangs up. In front of him, Luffy looks like he's just come up with the next Nobel prize-winning idea.

"I need to kill this hangover with McDonald's."

"And I," Law replies as he grabs his car keys from his pocket, "am not going to buy it for you."

"No, you're not. You're going to drive me there!" Luffy says, eyes twinkling in the dark. "There has to be a McDonald's on the way to the hospital, right? Please," he adds with a pout.

Law sighs, catches his keys from the air, and closes his eyes.

"Fine," he says. "But no more than five minutes at the drive through, because I have a patient with an arrhythmia on the other side of the city and my best interest lies with _him_ , not your hangover. Got it?"

Luffy nods firmly, as though his best interest was also with the patient. Law knows it's not.

They walk out into a chilly silence, crossing to other side of the road where Law's black BMW was parked. Law pulls up his hood and tucks his fists into the front pockets. He feels a slight shiver against his arm, soon realising that Luffy, who was wearing only a red tank top and shorts, had shrunken into Law's side to avoid the cold.

Law exhales a visible sigh into the dark.

"Want to go back and grab a jacket?"

Luffy shakes his head, but when they get into the car he cranks the heater up to the highest notch. Law rolls his eyes, but doesn't deny himself the sweet release of muscle tension as the warm, humidified air blows turbulently throughout the car. He breathes in a moment's rest before starting up the engine.

"Cool car," Luffy murmurs, as Law pulls out of the kerb and turns into the next street leading up to the highway.

Neither of them say anything for a while. Luffy is staring blankly into the outside world, every so often glancing curiously at Law when he would curse or throw a hand up in the air from the steering wheel (it's 3am on a Friday night and Law had every right to get mad at the fools driving on the roads). Similarly, it didn't take long for Luffy to become impatient and restless: he reaches a hand out to the dashboard and scans through multiple radio stations, eventually settling down with one that blasted old school tracks that Law hadn't heard in years.

"Good choice. Didn't think you were old enough to know these songs."

"I'm not. I just like the beat," Luffy replies, and then adds grumpily, "I'm old enough to start college, you know."

The traffic lights fade into a warm amber. When Law brings the car to a complete stop in front of red lights, he turns around to Luffy.

"Doesn't school start soon?"

"I can't afford college right now," Luffy replies. "By the way—"

The lights turn green, and Law swerves to the road on his right.

"—can we not turn into this road?"

"What do you mean?" Law asks, throwing an exasperated look at his passenger. "It's too late for that, and McDonald's is just a few minutes away."

Luffy sighs, and closes his eyes.

"The fight happened here, that's all."

It takes a moment for Law to realise that 'the fight' meant the one in which Portgas D. Ace was killed last week, and where Luffy had sustained multiple critical injuries — and not just physical ones.

"Oh, crap—"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luffy says quickly. "I can take it."

Law nods. As he drives along the road, he tries to recall the setting captured by the CCTV footage displayed on TV the other day. Was it a restaurant? A bar? An open space? He scans his gaze across every building on the road, but he doesn't recognise anything in the dark. The questioning takes his mind around in circles, and he can see in Luffy's clenched fists that it is excruciating for him, let alone anyone else.

"I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Law says, returning his eyes to the road ahead. "Why—"

He breaks off his own sentence. The projection of the warm street lights outside move swiftly across Luffy's profile, briefly revealing dark shadows tracing the contours of his face, a pretty sight Law hadn't seen before.

"Why did they attack your brother?"

"I don't know, Law," Luffy says, slowly enough for Law to detect the pain in each word, "Ace was just defending himself. The Teach dude drew first blood."

"So that guy started it?"

"Yeah, but we'd never met him before then. And then the officer shot at Ace out of nowhere, we didn't even know he was in the pub. It was all really sudden, I don't know."

Officers don't just shoot with the intent to kill, Law thinks to himself. Officers don't hide out in the pub alone, either. It didn't add up. But he doesn't pursue the topic further. A few minutes later, when they finally arrive at the McDonald's drive through, Luffy abruptly forces the door open.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Law asks, but is answered immediately by Luffy's forced retching and the smell of vomit from the road. Law frowns and places one hand over his scrunched up face. "Damn it, you better not have gotten any of that on my car—"

Law's words are drowned out by Luffy's audible heaving. He pulls the car windows down, and makes a point to face outward where the wind is blowing.

"I'm sorry," Luffy says drearily, after he's done being sick. "You keep seeing the worst of me."

Law grabs a pack of mints from the glove box and offers one to Luffy. A machine greets them warmly at the drive through lane.

 _"Welcome to McDonald's! What can I get for you?"_

"Two large double quarter pounder meals, thanks."

 _"Anything else with that, sir?"_

"That'll be it," Law replies, reaching for his wallet from the glove box. In a movement, Luffy grabs Law's wrist and holds it still in the air.

"I told you, you're not paying for this."

Law matches Luffy with his own quiet determination. "Let me go, Luffy. This is nothing."

He twists his arm out of Luffy's grip and proceeds to retrieve his wallet. He weaves the car through the lane and pays at the next counter, where the waiter hands him the order in a paper bag.

"It's all yours," he says as he drops the bag onto Luffy's lap.

"But you ordered two meals—"

"I don't really eat fast food. All yours."

Luffy stares and blinks a few times, his mouth slightly open. Law can't tell whether it's from disbelief that he doesn't eat fast food or that he was buying food for some kid whose circle he got tangled into while treating him in hospital. Because Law can't believe the latter either. He focuses on the road as they turn back onto the highway, both hands on the steering wheel, his thoughts about how much trauma Luffy must have gone through fading into the back of his mind.

The smell of food wafts into Law's nose.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a fry," he says. Luffy laughs and shoves a handful of fries into Law's mouth. "Wait, not _that_ much—"

Law scowls, but chews steadily anyway.

"Pass me some coca-cola."

Luffy holds up the drink for Law to sip on, and restores it to the cup holder near the hand brake. Law has to look twice at the next burger Luffy has already unwrapped.

"Shit, you eat like a monster," he remarks. "You know it's a myth, right?"

"What?"

"Eating greasy food after a big night doesn't actually work. It's only effective _before_ you drink."

Luffy pauses. His face is already stuffed with half the burger, but he swallows it all with a gulp.

"Goddamn, why didn't you tell me?!"

Law laughs and takes a hand off the steering wheel to switch on the same radio station they had playing before, dialling down the volume so that the music is only just softer than his voice. "Honestly? I thought some company would do me good."

Law thinks he sees a briefly bemused look wash over Luffy for a second, but then Luffy is grinning and grabbing another fry to offer to Law.

"I like you, Law," he says brightly.

Law doesn't think Luffy has any idea what that could mean.

"You need to be careful when you say things like that," Law murmurs. "Someone could fall for you."

xxxx

"Edward Newgate," Koala says, pointing to the crowded spikes on the printed ECG recording. Law holds back a grimace at the sinister waveforms. The man on the bed is pale, his white moustache moving up and down with each agonising breath despite being strapped to an oxygen mask, a giant hand gripped tightly around the fingers of a man who Law presumed to be his son. Law walks around to the other side of the bed, and waits until he has locked eye contact with the old man.

"Mr. Newgate, what do you understand of your condition right now?" Law asks him, quietly.

The man emits a troubled laugh. "I'm havin' a heart attack, aren't I, doc? Marco'd know more."

Marco is standing across the bed, his hands squeezing tight around Mr. Newgate's fingers. Law nods at him in acknowledgement and glances back at the patient.

"Well. You're not having a heart attack."

"Oh — thank god," Marco breathes. "So, then, what's the matter with Dad?"

"Your father is having an arrhythmia that might lead to cardiac arrest," Law responds, bluntly. He throws on a pair of gloves and motions for Koala to the head of the bed. "We need to prevent that. Now, because the adenosine didn't work, we're going to have to shock you to revert your heart to a normal rhythm, Mr. Newgate. My colleague will be giving you some general anaesthetic to knock you out since it's an unpleasant experience."

Behind Koala, Shachi and Penguin are priming the lines and placing defibrillator pads on the patient's chest. Usual routine. In a few minutes, the anaesthetic drugs have taken effect—"Mr. Newgate, are you feeling warm enough?" is Koala's usual question to test the level of sedation of the patient, and with no reply, she motions the go-ahead to the rest of the team—and Law is just about to deliver a shock when the curtains suddenly swing wide open, catching every person off guard.

"Wait, aren't you—"

"—why is he—?!"

"Luffy?!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, _Luffy_!" Law says, his voice rising above the sudden panic in the team, the expletive prompting a sharp glare from Koala, "I told you to wait for me until I was done!"

Luffy walks into the room, leaving the curtains wide open behind him and looking too delighted for Law's comfort. "I was bored, so I asked the staff where you were. I wanna see the stuff you do at work. Good thing I found you— _sheesh_ , this place is confusing!"

Shachi winks and nudges at Law. "Good night, huh?"

"Yeah, you owe us a story," says Penguin, looking much more amused than Koala, who was trembling slightly at the sight of Luffy.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she whispers.

"Oh, Koala," Luffy says nonchalantly, waving a hand, "long time no see."

Marco also jumps into the dialogue from the bedside. "Aren't you Ace's little bro?"

Luffy's eyes widen, and the entire room takes a deep breath as the revelation dawns on him.

"Marco?! And—W- _WHITEBEARD_?! What happened to him?!"

Law is palming his face so hard that his hands have blanched white. How is it that the world was so goddamn small and Luffy so irrevocably reckless?

"Luffy," he says, lowering his voice, "I'm about to give an electric shock to this man so if you could stand _away_ from the bed—"

Penguin yanks at Luffy's top and pulls him backward.

"Okay, we're clear," says Penguin, signalling a thumbs up. "Let's go, Captain."

Law delivers two shocks, and the sedated patient jolts in synchrony with each. The beeping of the monitor pauses. A moment later, it restarts, at a rate much slower than what it had been before. Law catches Luffy gaping at the defibrillator machine.

If the kid asks where he can get a machine like that, Law decides, no lifts home are to be given.

"We all good?" Shachi asks, looking between Law and Koala, and then finally at Luffy.

"So, what are we gonna do about you, huh?" says Penguin, clapping Luffy on the back. "You kinda just barged into our party here—"

"He's coming with me," Law says.

Koala extends a palm out at Law. "Hang on a second, _what_ is going on here?"

Luffy shrugs. "We had a party at Zoro's place."

Law pulls off his coat, and walks around Koala's extended arm as chatter erupts between Luffy and the rest of the team.

"Bring him in again if he's getting similar symptoms," Law says to Marco. "He should be fine for now, but make sure he takes his medications."

"Thanks so much, doc."

A bright pink figure flashes beyond the curtains.

Law stops.

A couple of strides towards the hallway later, he is confronted by a tall man with scruffy blonde hair, a flamboyant pink scarf draped lavishly across his neck, with breath smelling strongly of red wine. He is wearing a set of rose-tinted sunglasses that shrouded the movement of his eyes—making it impossible for Law to make eye contact or read the person's motives.

The man offers a contorted smile.

"How can I help you?" Law asks slowly, intensifying his gaze. He takes a step toward the stranger.

"I want something from that guy, Whitebeard," the man says, his dark smile twisting with each syllable. "And I want you—" he points a finger to Law's face "—to kill him for me."

Law freezes. Weren't visitors supposed to be filtered by security? How could anyone have missed this deranged man? He makes a subtle movement to reach for his phone.

"And what are you, the grim reaper?" he asks, his eyes suddenly drawn to the bright frangipani print of the man's shirt. He dials the security number into his phone behind his back.

"I'm _Doflamingo_. Doffy, if you want," the man drawls, his tongue hanging slightly from his bottom lip. "Security won't take me away, you know. And don't even think about yelling out to your buddies that I'm here because, let's face it—" he knocks the side of his head "—they don't need to know I've dropped by the resuscitation bay."

"Law? Who..."

Law turns around. It's Luffy.

"Stay calm. Security'll be coming in a minute."

Doflamingo is already strutting away from them, his feet positioned wide, the pink feathered scarf billowing behind him. Laughing. Luffy's face is pale of cold fear.

"We're going home," Law says to him, his mouth dry. "Now."

xxxx

 **Hey all, yes I'm still alive, I've just been busy with uni and have been trying to write bits and pieces of this every now and then. Lots of LawLu interaction in this chapter, probably the most for this story so far (I know it's slow, Law isn't going to jump the gun, OK?). I also hope you liked Doffy's sinister debut!**

 **\- Avery**


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